The new electric Tesla Model S production is scheduled to begin in mid-2012, starting with the Signature Series, and continuing with the 300-mile batteries, followed by 230-mile and 160-mile battery options later that year. Tesla will offer three battery options, the 160-, 230-, and the 300-mile range. The Model S will come standard with the 160-mile range battery with the 230-mile and 300-mile range batteries as optional upgrades. The Model S Signature will also come with the 300-mile range battery and will have limited edition offerings with colors and options not available for Model S.

The Model S will have a top speed of approximately 125 mph, a 0-60 mph time of approximately 5.6 seconds, and a single-speed gearbox. It will feature a standard 17” infotainment touchscreen on every Model S with in-car 3G connectivity for streaming radio and gps navigation, a liquid-cooled, floor-mounted battery pack, and panoramic glass roof and rear-facing child seats as planned optional upgrades.

Tesla has sent out new photos of the “Roadster 2.5,” which is the new version of its first electric sports car with a few new superficial elements. The updated Roadster 2.5 features minor enhancements, including a new front fascia with different diffuser vents and new rear diffuser. There also are silver or black forged wheels, new seats said to be more comfortable with better bolsters and more lumbar support, plus a power-control software to manage output in hot weather.

The closure of the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California six weeks ago was just another downfall to California’s struggling economy and double digit unemployment rate. Late Thursday, Tesla Motors announced that it is teaming up with Toyota to build its all-electric Model S sedan at the recently shuttered NUMMI plant in Fremont, creating more than 1,000 new jobs.

Under the agreement, Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, will invest $50 million in Tesla, which will buy the NUMMI plant for an undisclosed sum. The joint venture was unveiled by Akio Toyoda, Toyota’s CEO, who flew in from Japan for the announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a heavily attended 5 p.m. news conference at Tesla’s Palo Alto headquarters.

Despite 2008′s desperate measures to help auto manufacturers hold on to business as usual, 2009 brought only radical change leaving many old business practices and brands behind.

We have been spectators in this year of turmoil and watched the industry struggle to reinvent itself. Two of The Big Three went bankrupt; one emerged with a global partner, the other became lean and focused. Diesels are now faster than their gasoline counterparts. Nine out of ten EPA mpg champs are hybrids. VW bought Porsche while Porsche was buying VW. Overall sales were millions of units short of expectations. Manufacturers now pin their hopes on the Chinese market, while Americans pray that the Volt is half as good as it needs to be. Somehow, during all of this turmoil Kia became cool. What was once unthinkable has happened.

Amidst the mayhem consumer conservatism has redefined value to mean more than MSRP, monthly payments and residuals. Cars had better be good at what they do or people won’t buy them. The industry must meet the new expectation of great cars and real innovation. Tricky marketing and trend analysis will not build the product portfolios of the future.

While the industry was being shaken to its core, 2009 was a banner year for new technologies and remarkable products. Read on to find out which cars persevered as CarReview’s best choices of 2009

You think Tesla is done with producing just the Roadster and the upcoming Model S? Think again, because word has it that the Model S sedan will be just the start of things, and Tesla is planning on a whole range of electric vehicles based on the Model S including a van, a CUV and a minivan.

Believe it or not, all of this news comes out as a way of explaining just what Tesla, the current EV darlings of the green car set, would be doing with that large green pile of loans they just got from the feds. Tesla applied for, and received, a low cost loan under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program approved a few months ago. OK, fine, but what was Tesla planning on doing with it? Why give the money to a startup with potentially shaky finances and only one model currently in production?

It was bound to happen, and it looks like it just did at this years Frankfurt Motor Show. By ‘it’, I mean someone doing a modded version of the upcoming Smart EV. And the people who decided to take a crack at it are noted German tuning house Brabus. Brabus is most famous for making Mercedes that outperform WW II fighter planes. You know the drill: S-Class with huge motors and aero bits that top out over 200 MPH, that sort of thing.

So what happens when Brabus goes in the completely opposite direction and even goes so far as to do away with the internal combustion engine entirely? We’ll find out, but the good news up front is that someone is actually doing it. I’ve said for years now that if you want to make better EVs, and get people to buy them and take them seriously, you can’t just make them green, you have to make them fun.

Do you already own a Tesla Roadster? Do any of your friends want to buy one? If so, then you’re in luck. Turns out that Tesla has just started a customer referral program that can net you 500 dollars. The program even applies to those of you out there that are waiting to take delivery of your Roadster, or the upcoming Model S sedan as well.

All you have to do is talk one or more friends to purchase and take delivery of a Roadster, and Tesla will send you a $500 check. The catch is that the program ONLY applies to your friends that will by a Roadster not the Model S sedan, and you have to wait to get your 500 clams until after your buddy takes delivery of their roadster.

Tesla is being reserved about actual sales figures, but based on the most up to date information Tesla has released, the through-put has increased dramatically. Meaning your friends won’t have to wait as long as you to get their all-electric Roadster. Supposedly, the Roadster is sold out through November, so an order placed now should (emphasis on should) get one in your driveway by this Christmas

Uh oh, bad news for any of you out there that own a Lotus Elise, and Exige or even a Tesla Roadster (you lucky people), seems there’s a recall on. According to the NHTSA, on some Lotus Elise, Exige and Tesla Roadsters, the rear hub flange bolts that have been deemed defective. The three vehicles’ bolts may be under-torqued and could become loose, meaning suspension bits could work loose (I will not go into detail about why this would be bad, CarReview readers are brighter than that).

You’re also bright enough to already know that the all-electric Tesla Roadster is based on the Lotus Elise, hence the recall effects Cali’s finest eco sportscar as well as those two fine products from Hethel, England.

Here’s something you could have seen coming from a mile away: Tesla is making a performance version of its much heralded Tesla Roadster. What makes the Sport version so different?

The Roadster Sport has a hand-wound stator that increases winding density helping to eliminate resistance while increasing peak torque (i.e. more power). It also gets better tires. Yokohama Ultra High Performance tires in this case (people are speculating they will be the same Advan A048s fitted to Lotus’ Elise/Exige). The 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds is 0.2-seconds faster than the standard Roadster. The Tesla Roadster Sport also gets Lotus-derived components, including adjustable dampers and anti-roll bars that can be tweaked to suit the driver’s tastes.

Neat, right? Now the real question: How much?

The starting price is $128,500 in the US and €112,000 (excluding VAT) in Europe, or $28,000 more than the base model of Tesla Roadster.

OK, now we’re talking … hear that Tesla? That is the sound of one of the most impressive car companies on the planet zeroing in on you. Lotus, makers of the best handling cars in the world since … well, since Colin Champan founded the company, has said they will be looking into making full electric cars.

Those of you who have been paying attention know that the Tesla roadster is, essentially, a Lotus Elise that’s been stretched & massaged and had batteries and electric motors stuffed where the Toyota mill used to sit, so for the boys from Hethel to go the other way seems like an easy change of polarity.